Fluenz Italian 1+2 with supplemental Audio CDs and Podcasts

by Fluenz

Product Features

• Build your vocabulary and language abilities
• Read, write, speak and understand Spanish (Latin America)
• Speak Spanish (Latin America) without a script
• Retain what you've learned
• Practice unscripted conversations in Spanish (Latin America)

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• ASIN: B001GBZALQ
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 10, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,215 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #4 in Software > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Italian

Product Description

The only interactive language program offering an immersive environment that recreates the best elements of great one-on-one tutoring.

Be Fluent in Italian

The Harvard, Cornell, and University of Chicago graduates who developed Fluenz were determined to create a program that conveyed the unique beauty of Italian while providing a step-by-step path through the language. By bringing the magic of a great teacher to the computer screen, Fluenz Italian makes reaching fluency in this storied language possible for every single learner.

Love Italian, Actually Learn It

As strong believers in the magic of Italian, the program designers moved beyond the cookie-cutter approach typical of computer language education: methods that boast a suspiciously simple way to learn and treat adults like children by emphasizing the association of words and pictures. Instead of the "fast-food" approach to Italian, Fluenz is all about taking learners step by step through the most beautiful language in the world.

Fluenz Italian brings the power of an amazing teacher to lead, challenge, and inspire adults and teens with a real love for the language. The application is ideal for those who need everyday conversation skills, as well as for those who want to establish a strong foundation for advanced learning.

An effective approach for English Speakers

It is impossible to understand how Italian nouns must agree in gender and quantity (plural or singular) not only with articles, but also with adjectives and adverbs, without a clear explanation. Fluenz is the only interactive program offering tutor-led explanations in English that guide learners through the strategies necessary to reach fluency. This realistic, no-nonsense approach produces real results.

The Magic of Learning: Audio CDs for Your Car or iPod

The Fluenz Italian Audio CDs are the

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better learning program than Rosetta Stone, January 4, 2009

By 

Michael Palmer "www.michaelpalmer.net" (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fluenz Italian 1+2 with supplemental Audio CDs and Podcasts (DVD-ROM)

Some back ground information to my experience learning Italian.

I bought Rosetta Stone in October 2006, Italian level one and used it for 6 weeks. I was very dissatisfied with what I was learning and returned for a full refund without any problems. I left a review on Amazon if anyone care to read it. Just click on my name and scroll down in my reviews - it is not the newest Rosetta Stone.

I then purchased Pimseluer Italian, level 1. I was and am very happy with their program and way of learning. I spent one year, about 7 hours a week learning it before a trip to Italy. I was not fluent, but I learned a lot of Italian. I could understand more than speak it.

This brings me to Fluenz. I have been looking for another program to help supplement my Pimsleur learning. I really did consider Rosetta until I stumbled upon Fluenz on Amazon. I purchased after reading some good reviews. I was not disappointed.

I have done 5 lessons (usually an hour each). I also skipped ahead and looked at some of the other lessons. Because I already have some good Italian learning experience, I am finding the Fluenz program is really helping me. I also believe, even for a true beginner, I think the Fluenz learning is laid out extremely well and will benefit anyone who wants to learn Italian. However, it won't come automatically. Just like anything new, you will have to put the time and effort in if you want to really learn.

Some things I really like about Fluenz are you get to listen to different speakers saying the same words. This is very helpful to hear how different voices sound saying the same words.

I also like having to write the Italian answers to English. You write what you see, then later you hear the Italian word, which you have to write also. This really helps reinforce what I am learning.

Using a microphone, you record yourself speaking dialogue then listen to see if you sound like the speakers. This is very helpful, though it is just for a short part of the lesson.

Having worked with Pimsleur, where you only hear the words, Fluenz is great because you hear and see the words. It really helps ingrain the words.

The best thing about Fluenz is the lessons are real world conversations. Not picking dogs and children from pictures. As an example, lesson two and three you learn how to order coffee, water and something to eat in a café, be it for yourself or for your friend and ask for the bill. While they may not sound like a big deal, it is. That is real world conversation.

Bottom line is this is an excellent program. I am very pleased and satisfied with my purchase. In my humble opinion, it is far superior to Rosetta Stone (which I did for six weeks every night, then returned). This obvious, but no matter what program you use, you have to put in the hours. The only better way to learn is immersion or at least have a friend to learn with.

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strongly recommended!, September 25, 2008

By 

M. Zuloaga (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fluenz Italian 1+2 with supplemental Audio CDs and Podcasts (DVD-ROM)

I did the Fluenz Mandarin course last year, was impressed with the program, and then spent two succesful weeks in Harbin for work (btw, Harbin prides itself with speaking the best Mandarin in China). Because Italian has been my life-long unfulfilled passion, I didn't hesitate to buy Italian 1 when I first saw it. Seeing that Italian 2 just came out, I decided to put in an order, but also to write this review as there are no others yet. This small company is doing an admirable job and everyone should know about it.

These have been my impressions of Fluenz Italian so far:
1. The teacher in the box concept, and the charismatic Sonia, continue to be the hallmark of Fluenz. She is there at every step anticipating the typical questions an English speaker is bound to have when faced with the many rules and issues in Italian. I've been listening to the language for decades during my many visits there, and I actually know many words, but from words to phrases there is a path--and she shows the way in a gentle, reassuring way.
2. The approach is slow and deliberate, and Italian has enough complexity in the way sentences are formed that this pays off. Every single word taught is immediately useful in the building of bigger sentences so that nothing is wasted.
3. In between the tutorial and a final video, there are many workouts that seem simple at first, but reveal themselves as quite ingenious as you go through the process. All the workouts in a given session cover the material offered in that session, as well as everything learned up to then, and as you practice writing, reading, listening and recording your own voice, the connections really come alive. Just as if you were building a jigsaw puzzle, things get easier as the pieces fall into place
4. The actual presentation is very appealing and helps your learning. The video has excellent quality, and the photographic tour of Italy makes the process inpiring.
5. The last point would be the evident passion for, and knowledge of Italy displayed throughout the video tutorials, and in the choice of material learned. Every video explanation comes with cultural and personal context showing much love and dedication for the subject matter. Having completed the Mandarin course, it is evident that the choice of vocab is very specific both to Italian culture, and the realities of English speaking learning Italian.
All in all a welcome addition, and one I believe clearly stands out so I put in my strong recommendation.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe the best language system ever, October 2, 2008

By 

Neil Janin (Paris) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fluenz Italian 1+2 with supplemental Audio CDs and Podcasts (DVD-ROM)

This is a very different, and much superior, language training system. Like other programs Fluenz uses a variety of exercises to get you to learn - both oral and written. What is really different is the pedagogy. Fluenz leverages your knowledge of English to understand and learn Italian. I checked out the main competitor, Rosetta Stone and it seems to be based on having you learn as kids learn a language i.e. by association of colors and objects with words, and by acquiring the feel of the language through hearing. I am in my fifties and I don't learn like a child. I have a grammar ingrained in me, a language with which I am familiar, and enough inhibition to stop me from spouting forth in a foreign language if I am not a bit sure that I will not make a fool out of myself.
Fluenz is easy to use right out of its Ferrari red box. The interface is elegant and Italian in style, so you feel immediately in the context of Italy. You are greeted by a teacher in English (and Italian). She guides you through the lessons, emphasizing certain points, encouraging you to stick with difficulties, and generally acting like a real person. I first thought it would be stilted and artificial. It isn't. I am now attached to her and she keeps me coming back to my session - which is half the battle in learning a language. You don't have to worry about whether you should do vocabulary, grammar, or voice exercises, they are all bundled together in a seamless way. Just follow the teacher and her instructions. Help is very easy to access and is a combination of instructions and video. This is the best product o the market.
What's fun is that by the second session, about 3 hours of work in all, you can order and respond with confidence with an Italian waiter in a café. It is a good illustration of the power of this program: you learn right away how to use verbs and put together a simple phrase with useful vocabulary (as opposed to knowing the word for leaf and grass, which you will not use so often). My son did well to give me this program,and I, in turn, would recommend Fluenz to the serious student for the simplicity of the interface, the quality of the product, and above all the insightfulness of the pedagogy. You won't need anything else.